The invention relates to an apparatus for maintaining the patency of urine flow through the human urethra, having an intra-urethral catheter (IUC), which has a potential through flow for the urine that extends over its length, whose length is shorter than the length of the urethra, and which does not protrude from the urethral orifice by either of its ends; a transport means for the insertion of the IUC into the urethra is also associated with the apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,401 and European Patent Application 0 593 948 disclose apparatuses of this kind. The intra-urethral catheter (for the sake of simplicity, always referred to below as the IUC) is disposed in the region of the urethra which passes through the prostate gland and the inner sphincter. Inserting metal spirals through the urethra into the desired position of the urethra region is also known. The insertion and removal of the aforementioned metal spirals and of the IUC is very costly. As a rule, endoscopic measures are required, along with the use of hooks or forceps, and an anesthetic. By and large, this is very costly and time-consuming, and is also correspondingly stressful for the patient.
The goal which is thereby achieved, of keeping the urethra open while at the same time preventing ascendant infections of the urinary tract, therefore involves corresponding disadvantages. The aforementioned ascendant infections resulted when a dwelling catheter was used, which was inserted through the urethra to the point that its tip reached the bladder so that the bladder urine could be drawn outward by means of the permanent catheter protruding from the urethral orifice. When drawing off of urine with a catheter in this way, after a short time, the serious disadvantage already became apparent that infectious germs ascended from the urethral orifice toward the bladder along the catheter walls and infected the prostate gland and bladder. Healing infections of this kind is difficult, lengthy, and costly and antibiotics resistant pathogens can be impossible to cure.